Tuesday, 27 October 2015

Spectre, the latest
Bond movie and second installment of the franchise for director Sam
Mendes does indeed seem to be haunted by its past. With more than a
passing nod to previous incarnations of evil arch-enemies and their
pets, even the oily tentacles in the opening credits reminds the
audience of Octopussy (perhaps Monica Bellucci's sad widow character
in the next movie)?

The sombre pallet from
Skyfall persists through this film and the feel is of a present set
in the past. There are exotic locations, wonderful set pieces with
planes, trains and automobiles, a few laughs and lots of fighting to
keep fans happy. ( Look out for Dave Bautista as Mr. Hinx.) Ralph
Fiennes finds his feet as M, Naomie Harris is still a great
Moneypenny and Ben Whishaw steals scenes as the digital age Q. But
it's hard to get too excited about a shadowy organisation hell bent
on conglomerating the world's CCTV.

James Bond, played with
lots of muscled menace by Daniel Craig, does his best to liven things
up by blowing things up, knocking things down and driving through
things and, of course, saves not only the day but the beautiful new
Bond girl, Madeleine Swann played by Lea Seydoux. Christophe Waltz is
Franz Oberhauser, the head of Spectre, a nicely understated,
sock-free performance out for revenge and retribution on Bond and the
007 division, this movie follows on from where Skyfall left off and
is a robust contribution to the James Bond franchise. Four out of
five stars.